Painting Flowers
by I Am Sweden
Summary: "Sorrow brings us together and makes us stronger. But sometimes, all we can do is paint flowers." Locke and Relm find strength by reconnecting to the past before the final battle.


**Painting Flowers**

"RACHEL!"

"…I have to go now. But thank you so much for all the happiness you've given me."

Locke grabbed her hand as Rachel's eyes closed and she took a deep breath. He mouthed her name, unable to voice the name of the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. Knees shaking and tears about to flow, he tucked her hair behind her ear.

Rachel turned her cheek on his hand, a smile lightening her fading face. "Please," she whispered. "Let go of the chains that bind your heart… I release you. Give your love to the one who now dwells in your heart…. Love her as you loved me…"

Her eyes closed with a finality, but she had one last thing to say before she shattered what little of Locke's heart remained.

"Phoenix…. Be reborn!"

Rachel, his lovely Rachel, let go of his hand and started to fade. The one who'd held his heart for so long was leaving him again. It was foolish to think he would ever get her back. Foolish to think he could save her when she was already gone the moment she lost her memory!

He thought he had had her heart. He was wrong. Her heart, a thing he thought so fragile, was what kept him together for so long. Kept him bonded to his foolish hopes and dreams.

Her heart was never in his hands. What he had clung to was a memory, and only that. A memory so precious in his hands that it constricted his heart and melded it into a fearful thing. He was afraid… afraid of losing the precious thing in his hands.

And it was in these emptied hands he held his renewed hope in Phoenix.

((((()))))

Relm Arrowny wanted only to draw the instant they set camp that night. An anxious air clouded her thoughts and kept her mind reaching out to unknown, unremembered memories. A fog covered her senses and begged her to remember- that day, that face, that pain she'd long ago shoved to the back of her mind.

Tomorrow. It was decided. The battle to restore the world vitality by defeating Kefka would be tomorrow. The last chance at saving the world, or to watch it wither and die under Kefka's rule.

_I can't believe this…. So soon, already. A year wasn't long enough to go without fighting, _Relm thought with a silent, small sigh. She stared critically at the purple bouquet of violets she had just drawn, then flipped the page. Doodles wouldn't keep her mind away from pressing thoughts- she had to work on something intricate. Someone….

The young artist looked around. Who would be her victim tonight?

Grandpa was with Shadow, speaking in a low, serious tone to the ninja that she couldn't overhear. She only rolled her eyes. Celes and Terra were with Setzer and Edgar going over battle tactics by the_ Falcon_. She would get bored if she went over there to draw.

With Mog and Umaro was Gao and Gogo. Relm thought they were all a little weird, and too simple to draw. Like the bouquet, it wouldn't help her racing thoughts.

Cyan and Sabin tried their hand at trying to pitch up their tents, the two laughing over an inside joke they had thought up behind everyone's backs. Relm didn't want to intrude on them- or worse, to have hear them explain their joke.

There. All by himself, Locke lay in a field of flowers, looking up at the night sky. He traced constellations with his finger, expressionlessly mouthing whatever Terra, Celes, Setzer, and Edgar said during their planning session. It was likely they had wanted their map expert there, but there was something bothering him and didn't want to shake him from his thoughts.

Relm saw that much, so she wouldn't press him for conversation while she drew.

"Hey, kid," Locke greeted her. Relm noticed the strained smile he put into his voice.

Smiling in response, she plopped down at his side and took out her notebook. "Do you mind the company?" Relm asked, laying on her stomach with her feet lazily kicking the air. "I noticed I haven't drawn you yet, and I want to finish it before we leave tomorrow."

"Not at all."

There was nothing but silence between them as Locke resumed his mocking and Relm commenced her drawing.

_Daddy…? Where'd Daddy go?_

Relm paused. Her eyes grew watery a moment, but she only shook her head and drew Locke's goofy bandana.

_Daddy is coming back, isn't he?_

"Have you ever seen a shooting star, Relm?"

Locke's sudden question shook her back to reality. "Hmm?"

"A shooting star," he repeated, looking over at her. "People say that if you wish on them, all your wishes will come true. Well, at least one."

She looked up at the blanket of stars above them. A shower of light painted across black- the one picture she could never get just right. The night sky was a kind of beauty one couldn't put down on paper. Nothing she tried did the sky justice.

"Nope. I've never seen one. Have you?"

Locke wryly smiled. "If any of my wishes would have come true, life wouldn't be full of pain. We wouldn't have to try so hard…."

His arm dropped back to his side. Quietly, he let out a shaking laugh. "Sorry, Relm."

_If my wishes came true… would Daddy be here? Or…._

"S'alright," she replied in an equally quiet voice. Around him she drew purple violets and white daisies. "I wonder what one would look like. A shooting star, I mean."

"I dunno. Something spectacular, with all the faith folks put on it," he figured with a shrug. "Bright and sparkly."

Relm snorted. "Sparkly? Seriously?" She tapped his forehead with her pencil. "Have you been eating something funny?"

Locke laughed, finally sounding honest. "Only your grandpa's cooking."

"That explains it, then…," she muttered. Resuming her sketch, she lowly said, "I bet she was pretty."

His silence was different this time. Thoughtful, but also a little sad. "Yeah," he agreed at long last. "Rachel… she was beautiful."

Relm gave up on his portrait and tossed her notebook and pencil aside. "Would it have been worse if she wasn't so pretty?"

"Definitely not. She was pretty on the inside."

Locke sat up, seeing her look at her hands in deep thought. "Don't get wrinkles frowning like that."

Hiding a smile and chuckle, she shoved him and sat up, crossing her legs. Beside her she plucked a daisy and twirled it between her fingers. "I thought I'd feel better drawing, but…. I'm still…."

"Scared?" Locke guessed, putting his elbows on his knees. "All of us are. We've got to save the world tomorrow."

"I'm not scared!" she burst.

The treasure hunter cocked an eyebrow. She sighed in defeat. "Okay, a little, but… that's not it. I'm not worried or anything- it's just that I wish…."

Locke thoughtfully looked back to the stars. "Loss is a part of everyone's lives," he murmured. "Some of us lose it all, some of us lose the most important things in our lives. Some just lose a sock and it ruins their day."

"You sure you're a thief and not a philosopher?"

"Hey, now don't go and ruin my good name, Little Lady. I'm a _treasure hunter_."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Locke."

Relm understood Locke and Rachel- they had known each other all their lives, she guessed. But she didn't even remember her father's face. She knew that Daddy left her, and Daddy never came home.

Locke sighed and tried again. "Well, maybe you should get it off your chest. A game of twenty questions."

This piqued Relm's interest quite a bit. Oh, the juicy dirt she could get from this game….

But also the memories that'd shower over her mind.

Finally she gave him a curt nod. "But I go first." Relm tapped on her chin, thinking of what she'd ask first. "Ah, this is a good one! Where'd you get your bandana?"

"A good one?" Locke scoffed. "Well, I got it myself when I left Kohlinger. Sort of as a goodbye-present for myself."

"A goodbye-present… for yourself?" she asked slowly, once again considering the man's sanity.

Locke shook his finger. "My turn next. Okay, what is your middle name?"

"I'm Relm Baram Arrowny. What's your favorite thing in the whole world?"

"Napping in fields."

Relm groaned and shook her head. "That was a wasted question. Should've guessed…."

Locke laughed, falling back. "You mean I wasn't obvious enough earlier? Maybe I'll just sleep outside tonight."

"You'll catch a cold and sneeze Kefka to death!" Relm joked.

He nodded, pretending to consider it, and turned around. "Hey, Edgar. We've come up with a new battle plan: we get sick tonight, and sneeze on Kefka until he explodes." Locke spread his arms wide in an "exploding" gesture.

Terra and Celes giggled as Edgar rolled his eyes and muttered "Goofball thief" under his breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

"TREASURE HUNTER!"

Locke huffily turned back. "Skirt-chasing King!"

"Want a piece of me, Cole?"

"Bring it on, Figaro."

But they only chuckled and turned back to their company. Relm gave him a small smile, glad to have seen the transition from morose-Locke to cheerful-Locke. "Your turn, big guy."

Locke rubbed his chin. "Your favorite thing? Besides drawing?"

Right on cue, Interceptor tired of Shadow and Strago's conversation and trotted over beside Relm, sitting between her and Locke. As she scratched behind his ears, Relm admitted, "Being with Interceptor."

She looked back at Shadow to gauge his reaction. The ninja raised a silent hand in acknowledgement before murmuring something back to Strago. Locke's eyes widened a minute. "I think I get it now…. Alright, I have my next question. What was your father's name?"

Relm froze in mid-pet. Interceptor looked up at Locke, seeming just as stunned as the girl. Relm drew her hand back. "I… I don't remember. I never knew Daddy's name…."

Locke frowned. In a low voice he asked, "Does Clyde ring a bell?"

_Clyde, breakfast is finished. Bring Relm down, would you?_

"How do you know that name?" she asked in a hollow whisper.

"…I believe I've met your father before," he explained, faintly smiling at the sky. "He's a good man."

"You know Daddy?"

Locke looked down at her in shock. Tears ran down her cheeks. Relm looked up at him, rubbing her arm over her eyes. "Is he still alive? Does he think about me and Mama?"

She put an arm around Interceptor, hiding her face from everyone else behind them. "Please, Locke. Tell me about him."

Out of the corner of his eye, Locke saw Shadow's gaze turn soft. The ninja nodded to him before standing up and announcing he was going for a walk. Locke handed Relm her pencil and notepad. "Draw him as I describe him. You can see him all the time like that."

Relm nodded, wiping more tears from her eyes. She flipped to a crisp new page, the white staring back, waiting for soft charcoal to blanket it. Relm took a deep breath and readied her pencil. "Okay."

"Well, he's about six foot- pretty tall guy, but nearly as tall as Cyan and Sabin. He likes wearing hats, and I've never actually seen his hair. He always black- a suit. Makes him look pretty fancy."

Relm scribbled furiously as Locke described an obverse Shadow, committing each line to memory. Interceptor lay at her feet, his head laying on her legs. The dog kept looking back at Locke thoughtfully, as if reconsidering everything he'd ever thought about the thief.

"What are the color of Daddy's eyes?"

"…Yours, actually. Dark green."

((((()))))

"Thank you, Locke."

The thief sat up, noticing he must have fell asleep whilst Relm drew. The girl was gone from his side. Locke looked up and saw Shadow with Relm in his arms. He gave the ninja a smile. "Anytime, man."

Shadow looked like he wanted to say something else- anything, to show how much he truly appreciated what Locke had done for his daughter, but he could think of nothing. It seemed he truly was as emotionless as he had told Terra he was.

Locke stood and stretched, looking back up at the stars. "You know, I think her wish was to see you," Locke said softly, shaking his head. "That girl has a lot to try and sort through."

"Like you?" Shadow offered.

"Yeah," he murmured in agreement. "Just like me."

As Shadow turned to put Relm to bed, Locke saw a stream of light above him. Looking up, it was a shooting star.

"Not sure what to wish for, Rachel. I can't wish for you. That'd be too painful for both of us. No… maybe I should wish for a new beginning. Maybe forgiveness."

"After all, that's what everyone in this sorry world needs."

A soft breeze blew by, blowing up one of Relm's paintings. A bouquet of violets, the kind Locke's lovely Rachel had loved so dearly. It lay at his feet a moment, then blew off into the sky.

_We're all connected, Locke. Sorrow brings us together and makes us stronger._

_But sometimes, all we can do is paint flowers._

Despite his vow to never cry over Rachel again, he couldn't help the tear roll off his cheek.

**Yet again, angsty Locke strikes again, this time inadvertantly bringing two of my favorite characters together. Please review!**


End file.
